


An Abbreviated Family Reunion

by somewhereelse



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, No Spoilers, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-05 03:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17911541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhereelse/pseuds/somewhereelse
Summary: Mia Smoak just wants to find her mom. Everyone else can go to hell. Or, Lost Boy William Clayton meets Sassmaster Mia Smoak.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some speculation about the future scene’s aftermath. Unhappy but that’s the direction they’ve taken it, and I just wanted to write snarky Mia Smoak. Everything is very purposefully vague in keeping with the future canon we know so far, aside from one particular assumption about Mia’s attitude towards Dinah.
> 
> (I can’t believe I’ve started watching Shadowhunters because of Kat McNamara.)

Roy’s the first to break. His head jerks around in disbelief before he splutters out, “Oh my god. _Mia?_ What the hell!”

“Hey Uncle Roy,” she returns almost lazily at the same time William drops an incredulous, “You know her?”

Roy goggles for a second, ignoring Dinah’s quiet cursing. The Queen siblings, even though neither are claiming the name, in a room together is something he never thought he’d see. Mainly because he stranded himself on Lian Yu, but also because life has been so unfair to the people he used to call family. He comes back to himself, realizing that they’re still waiting for an answer. Well, William is. Mia’s bored and refastening her knife.

“I mean I haven’t seen her since she was five or something,” he mutters, a tinge of guilt in his tone. Roy still remembers that day, happier times with him and Thea and an absurd life that this current shit made normal.

William’s eyes grow wide as the rest of him stills. Finally, he gasps out, “So she’s not lying. She’s really my sister.”

Mia’s response is a quick eye roll and a scoff. “ _She_  is right here, you self-important dick,” she reminds him from where she’s leaning against the platform railing.

William doesn’t react to the insult but turns to face her. His forehead is creased, and there’s a combination of disbelief and what might be  _hope_ on his face when he repeats, “You’re really my sister.”

She shrugs nonchalantly, “I mean, not exactly a relation I _want_ to claim right now, but, you know, desperate times.”

Her sulky retort is ignored in favor of William turning back to Roy. This time, it’s not hard to read the betrayal and anger in his expression. “And in the months I’ve spent with you, you didn’t ever feel like telling me I have a sister!”

Dinah finally pipes up, “Well, Oliver and Felicity— They made us promise to never tell anyone about her. It’s part of the Mark of Four.” 

William’s anger at Roy takes a backseat to absorbing that information so Roy hurries to add, “She’s not even supposed to be here.” Mia throws her hands up in annoyance at being ignored again, and Roy redirects, “ _You’re_ not supposed to be here. You should be in Vegas, not  _underground cage fighting_ in Star City!”

If it sounds like he’s panicking, he might be, just a little. Because what the hell have they gotten themselves into if both William and Mia, who were sent away for their own protection, are back in Star City. More specifically, back in Star City and looking into the same apocalyptic plot supposedly engineered by their (step)mom. 

His panic doesn’t have time to escalate because William quietly breaks into the tense silence, “You look like her. Felicity, I mean. I don’t know how I missed it before. But you fight like Dad.”

Mia shrugs again. There’s no denying that she’s Felicity’s mini-me once the relationship is known. “Not exactly like him. Shorter, smaller, female-r. It’s a different technique.”

Something in her response makes William sag just a little, like the last of the denial’s gone out of him. Probably because that little ramble was so Felicity-like that it’s impossible to ignore.

“Yeah,” he acknowledges while staring at the floor then looks up at her with a small smile, “but scrappy and smart.”

Roy jerks his head. Dinah sends him an exasperated look but follows him up onto the platform, giving the siblings some privacy. It wouldn’t really matter because they’ve already gravitated towards one another, although they’re still in hearing range. Her look turns to warning and caution as she starts to cut Zoe loose.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure you’re Oliver Queen’s son?”

William stiffens instinctually because that’s not the first time someone’s asked him that. And they always mean it as an insult. Cautiously, he asks, “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

Mia raises her eyebrows but, when he doesn’t continue to an answer, rolls her eyes. ”I don’t know. It’s just— You seem kind of _delicate_.”

An offended ”Hey!” echoes through the old bunker.

Which earns him another eye roll as Mia points out, “She pushed your chair backwards, and you screamed. Real loud. Kind of like that but higher pitched.”

“Like a _girl?_ ” William prods, his own sarcasm reacting.

“No, _that_ would be a compliment.” When he stares at her disbelievingly, she crosses her arms over her chest and looks him up and down. “Oh please. I’m a girl and I could kick your ass. And _I_ don’t scream when I get pushed backwards.”

William takes in the defined muscles in her arms and her scraped and bleeding knuckles with more admiration than when she was just a potential informant and nothing more. ”Well, it’s not like Dad was around much to teach me how to fight,” he tries to defend himself, casually ignoring the part about how violence has always made him squeamish. “He didn’t even know about me until I was, like, 11. I only lived with him and Felicity for about a year before he went to prison and we went into protective custody. Then I got shipped off to boarding school, then I went to live with my grandparents.”

“Yeah, I _know_ ,” Mia drags out like she’s already bored. “It’s not like I haven’t heard it all before. And at least you got a choice.”

“Wait,” he cuts in, suspicion dripping from the word. “You know about me?”

“Yep,” she sends him a hard, bitter look, “All about my awesome big brother and these bullshit promises about how we’d be a family one day. Easy to say, hard to execute when your first priority is being a vigilante.”

Mia pauses for a moment to blow out an annoyed sigh. “I know you don’t know about  _me_ so you can stop making that face.”

William immediately smooths out the awkward wince he’d been making. “What? What face? I’m not making— Yeah, sorry. Completely and totally in the dark. I can’t believe everyone hid a whole _sibling_ from me.” He casts another disbelieving glare at Roy and Dinah who are pretending not to eavesdrop. “Hey, what did you mean I got a choice?”

Mia uncrosses her arms and gestures wide with them. “Come on, you were a walking, talking teenager, and it wasn’t safe for you to stick around. You think an actual helpless baby came around, and suddenly it was doable? I lived with Grams—Donna—since before I could even remember.”

“Oh,” he deflates. “That sucks. I mean, not really. Donna’s awesome from what I remember. But you know. The rest of it,” he finishes awkwardly. So much for having the most messed up childhood.

Zoe drops a curse and mutters, “God, and I thought my dad was a piece of work.”

Mia’s scowl is immediate, and she half-turns to point a finger at the other woman. “You are _not_ a part of this conversation. Or do I need to knock you out again? Because, I’m not going to lie, I really enjoyed it the first time around.”

Dinah grabs Zoe before she can advance, and William does the same to Mia, no matter how futile it might be. His sister doesn’t seem to be above elbowing him in the stomach, or even kicking him in the balls, to get away if need be. So instead he turns it into a gentle shoulder nudge and a half-smile.

“Hey, Zoe’s my friend. Be nice to my friends.”

“You have shitty taste in friends,” is her annoyed response that elicits another scuffle from the platform occupants.

“Speak for yourself,” William counters. He gestures over at tall, dark, and handsome, who hasn’t said a word but is instead watching them all with a barely contained sneer. “Who’s that rando?”

“Connor?” Mia tosses a glance and a wave over her shoulder. “He’s John and Lyla’s son. They adopted him.”

“Oh.” He’s tired of feeling wrong-footed and out-of-the-loop so the retort bursts out of him with more force than he expected. “Well, I wasn’t around to know that, was I?”

“ _Neither was I_ ,” she combats, anger lacing every word. “I’m the one who _was forced_ to live with my grandmother my entire life. Once I got old enough, I bailed and came here to try to find our family, which was a bust, unlike you who left and barely ever came back. Poor little rich boy. Are you really complaining at me about your upper middle class upbringing and your fancy education and your successful company when I am literally a petty criminal who dropped out of high school and cage fights for money?”

Stepping back, William holds his hands up in apology and swallows hard. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go toe to toe with a girl—woman? how _old_  is she anyway?—he’d seen drop a guy twice _his_  size, never mind her size. Especially when it seems like their parents screwed them _both_  over.

“Are you two seriously comparing who’s more screwed up?” Dinah sounds incredulous as she interrupts the sudden tension.

Roy’s the one to answer, “That’s how you know they’re Queens. No blood test necessary.”

Exasperated, they both turn and yell, “Shut up!” 

The little moment of synchronicity brings them a sense of levity, and Mia quirks a small grin at him.

That is, until something she said pings William’s radar again. “I thought you said you were in contact with Felicity?” he questions suspiciously. Because she admitted as much and they stole those bomb plans from her hideout. God, is _that_ where his sister’s been living?

Shaking her head, she looks off to the side, avoiding his gaze. “Through like seventeen hundred layers of encryption. She hates that I’m here. I know she's keeping tabs on me, but I never actually— Anyway, I only know about that stuff because I was her last resort for getting it.”

“Wait,” Roy interjects, picking up her implication. William’s glad he does so he doesn’t have to ask the obvious question. “Felicity wasn’t really planning to blow up the city, was she?”

Silently, Mia stares at each of them in absolute disbelief. Finally, a loud scoff escapes her. “You _idiots_ have been bumbling around this entire time, and you still haven’t figured it out? Mom really was the brains of the operation, huh?”

“She’s like Oliver’s bad attitude combined with Felicity’s IQ, and I don’t like it,” Roy mutters to Dinah, who doesn’t drop her steely expression but nods in agreement.

“I can hear you,” Mia points out, voice loud and strident.

Roy shrugs back at her, “I’m just being honest. You were a sweet little girl with pigtails last time I saw you. And now you’re... like this. Does Felicity know about your tattoos?”

“Oh my god.” Mia recoils and lets out an incredulous and sarcastic chuckle. “I’m leaving. Connor!”

“Hey!” William rushes forward to catch her arm. She immediately shakes off his hand, and he winces in apology. “What happened to using Archer to find Felicity?”

Shaking her head, she purses her lips together before answering, “I’ll figure out another way. That’s what Mom always says, right? There’s always another way. And do you think I’m stupid enough to believe _you people_ are going to help me find her now that you know who I am?”

The question is directed at Roy and Dinah, but it doesn’t stop William from asking, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Go on,” Mia insists, eyes focusing on Dinah, “Tell him.”

Dinah’s expression somehow hardens even more. Finally, she grits out, “It’s more complicated than that, Mia.”

“What’s complicated about you selling her out?” The retort is quick and angry, and William’s eyes bounce between the two, but they don’t break their staring contest to answer.

Unable to deal any longer with knowing none, or only half, of the story, he bursts out with, “ _What_ are you talking about?”

Mia clenches her jaw before turning back to him. “It doesn’t matter. Have fun with your friends. I’m out of here.”

“Mia! Come on, Mia, wait!” This time, he runs to slip in front of her in a vague attempt to block her exit. Connor’s already at the door, an impatient look on his face. “Will you just wait here a minute? We can figure this out together.”

“No, we can’t.” She shoulders past him, not so gently elbowing him in the stomach like he predicted.

“Look,” he wheezes, determinedly pushing past the pain to get in front of her again. “I effectively thought I lost all the family I had years ago. When I heard Felicity was dead, I really thought that was it. That I was alone. But somehow here you are, my _sister_. We just found each other. I don’t want you to leave like this.”

Instead of his intended effect, Mia just rolls her eyes at him. “Stop being so dramatic. Grams would’ve taken you in in a heartbeat. You’re the one who decided to stay away.” 

William’s expression crumples because he’s never really thought of doing that before.

“Sorry, William. I’m not going to stay here with the people who are a lot of the reason we never had a chance to be a family together,” Mia says with a hint of sympathy and more than a lot of finality.

Behind him, Zoe suddenly interrupts with, “What makes you think we’re going to let you leave?”

William doesn’t need to turn around to see that they’re all back in their fighting stances, but Mia doesn’t look impressed or intimidated.

“Me and Connor? Our records might not be squeaky clean, but at least we’re not  _vigilantes_. I press one button, and this place will be swarming with SCPD,” she threatens with their dad’s cockiness. “You look skeptical, _Aunt_ Dinah. Want me to prove just how much I’m my mother’s daughter?”

No one wants that. Not even if Donna was doing the hands-on parenting, and Felicity had been teaching Mia from a distance. When they’re silent, she just presses her lips together in a suppressed smirk. He can almost hear her thinking, _Cowards_.

Finally, Mia sends him a fond look and advises, “Watch yourself, big brother. If Mom really did send you that signal, then she sent you to _Roy_ for a reason. At least he knows what loyalty is.”

Even as the rest let her and Connor walk away, William trails her to the door, one last question on his mind, “Felicity’s really still alive?”

At first, Mia doesn’t react. Then she stops and turns around slowly. “She’s my mom. If she were dead, I think I would know. Right?”

For the first time, William sees Mia for as young as she is, a whole decade and change his junior. And even though she’s older than he was when he lost his mom and even though their relationship sounds as ruined as his, there’s no mistaking the terror and uncertainty on her face. She looks like he felt, years ago on a boat, staring at a burning island and not knowing but wishing and praying all the same despite the hollow feeling in his chest.

His sister kept herself alive in a wasteland for years. Not too long ago, he watched her pummel a man more than twice her size using determination and sheer force of will. Yet Mia relies on _a feeling_  to tether her to Felicity and to tell her whether or not her— _their_ —mom is still alive. William isn’t going to take that away from her, no matter how cruel the truth might be further down the road. He can help her through the grief when they get there but for now...

“Yeah,” he agrees, throat tight, “Yeah, I think you would know.”

A smirk lifts one corner of her mouth as her eyes grew impossibly sadder. “No, you don’t,” Mia corrects, her jaw wavering slightly. “Hey, bro,” away from the prying eyes of everyone else, she offers him an actual smile, “don’t be a stranger.”

“You know, I always wanted a little sister,” he yells at her back.

“Shut up. No, you didn’t,” she argues again over her shoulder, just before the door slides shut.

When he walks back to the others, Roy has a funny look on his face. “Did she just lock us in here?”

“Please,” Dinah rolls her eyes, “You think the locks in here still work?”

_Clunk._

“Shit.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I would put this up before tonight’s episode renders it completely pointless. Still just speculation based on the episode description.

“You should call more often. I worry.”

Mia rolls her eyes then immediately checks herself. This is the woman who bathed her, fed her, kept her in a warm bed for seventeen years of her life. She even convinced Mia that she was unconditionally loved, regardless of her parents’ lacking presence.

“I know,” her tone a touch softer than usual, “I’ve just been busy. It’s hard, you know.”

Donna Smoak is also the same woman who never grasped the powers of the internet and so still believes that she’s in NYC, waitressing and trying her hand at art school.

“I know, honey, but I believe in you. And you’re welcome home anytime you want, you know that. No questions asked, no judgment.”

“Thanks, Grams,” Mia’s lips twist in a bittersweet smile. She _hates_ lying to her, but her parents left her no choice. “Listen, have you heard from Mom recently?”

“No,” Donna immediately answers, and Mia braces for the guilt trip, “You two have that in common. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no,” Mia lies because she’s not going to tell her grandma her mom might be dead over the phone. “I just— I called her awhile ago, and she hasn’t gotten back to me.”

“You know how she is when she’s working. Just call her again as a reminder, I’m sure she’ll get back to you soon.”

She shakes her head even if Donna can’t see it. Honestly, Mia is still reeling from the last time she tried calling her mom. The nightmares happen almost every night since if how often she’s woken up screaming is any indication.

 

* * *

 

_“The infamous Blackstar. I’ll enjoy having your number.”_

_Mia gripped her phone tightly. Instinctively, her voice dropped to a growl, both to mask her identity and to convey displeasure. “Who are you?” she demanded, “Where’s Felicity?”_

_“Felicity Smoak is dead.”_

 

* * *

 

The rhythmic sound of footsteps breaks her out of the nightmarish memory. 

She rolls her eyes again, deservedly this time. Months with the ragtag team of vigilantes, and they couldn’t even teach him how to walk silently? He’s going to get himself killed.

“You’re right. I’ll try her again later.” Or not. Immediately after that call and wiping her phone, Mia found the nearest overpass and tossed it onto the roof of a passing truck. Whoever was on the other end might find her phone, but they’d never trace it back to her. It’s what Mom taught her, but it also means she’s left without their most direct means of communication. “William’s here. You wanted to talk to him?”

Mia turns around just as William enters the room and holds the phone out to him. “It’s for you,” she prompts, ignoring both the excited wailing from Donna and the confused puppy look from William. 

Warily, he takes it from her, holding the device a few inches away from his ear as he says, “Hello?”

 

* * *

 

At first, he thinks it’s a trap. How could it not be? Then he starts to recognize the high-pitched sounds coming from the phone.

Sure enough, it’s Donna wailing on the other end until he can finally grasp into one of her many questions. “I’m—I’m okay. How are you?”

“Missing my sweet granddaughter,” she sighs wistfully, and William sneaks a peek at Mia who’s moved onto sharpening the blade she held to Dinah’s throat the other night. Yeah, he can’t imagine her as anyone’s sweet anything.

The scoff leaps out of his mouth before he’s even realized. “ _Right._ ” Sarcasm drips from the word, and he’s surprised when Donna laughs.

“Mia’s a lot like Felicity in that way. My little pistachios.”

His confusion manifests in an eloquent, “Huh?” What do nuts have to do with anything? Is it supposed to be ironic because of Felicity’s tree nut allergy?

“Tough nuts to crack. You have to force their feelings out.”

The defense of his sister slips out automatically. Probably because it all hits to close to home for him. “Well, maybe if—”

“You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I know exactly why she’s like that. I never agreed with the decision, but I also don’t turn away family. That goes for you, too, young man. It’s been too long since I’ve seen your face.”

“I’m sorry. I never thought you would—” _Want me_ , William finishes in his head after the words die in his throat. After all, no one else ever really has.

Donna takes it in stride, her tone deadly serious when she replies, “I’ve missed _both_ my grandbabies. My door’s always open for you, William.”

Heart pounding, cheeks flushing, he stumbles over the expression of gratitude, “Th— _Thank you_.”

“Just as long as you take care of your little sister. Don’t worry. I’ve told Mia the exact same thing.”

“Oh. Uh—” William doesn’t even know where to begin to respond to that. Not when Mia’s cold-clocked him in incredibly recent history.

“Nonsense. I don’t care if you two just met,“ she misinterprets his hesitation. “You’re family and you take care of each other. It’s what your parents would want.” She pauses to take audible breath then she’s all light cheeriness again. “And once you’ve gotten a chance to get to know each other, I expect both of you to pay this old lady a visit.”

“You’re not old,” he protests. William can still see her in his mind’s eye. Loud and full of life. The last person to leave the dance floor the night of Oliver and Felicity’s wedding reception. Donna Smoak couldn’t possibly have aged.

“A charmer,” Donna laughs before her voice softens, “just like your father.”

He wants to argue, but she doesn’t mean anything bad by it. Just by her tone, he can tell that, to Donna, Oliver’s a good man and a good father. Of course, William would welcome the favorable comparison. 

But before William can choke out an insincere thank you, she continues, “I’ll let you two go. Off to do young people things from what I hear. I just don’t want to get a call about bail money, understand? I could get you out here in Vegas but I don’t have a clue about New York. Send everyone my love.”

And then she’s gone, and William’s left clutching Mia’s phone like a lifeline.

 

* * *

 

He looks like he’s seen a ghost. When she clears her throat, he literally jumps, and her new phone almost hits the deck. She snags it back from him before she has to acquire a third one in as many months, not that he needs to know that.

Finally, William collects himself, a defiant look in his eye as he needles, “New York, huh?”

What? Is boy wonder really going to _tattle_ on her? Older brothers really are just the worst. 

Nonchalantly, she shrugs and logically points out. “I wasn’t going to tell her about this nightmare. Her head would explode.”

“Fair,” William concedes after a moment then asks, “What do you want? How did you even call me?”

“Might have hacked your phones while you were knocked out,” she mumbles. His response is an exaggerated sigh, but at least he doesn’t look surprised. The fact that he’s not wholly underestimating her makes the next thing a little easier to say. 

“I need your help. _Yours_ , not the others,” Mia clarifies quickly, “I don’t trust them.”

He’s back to eyeing her suspiciously. “How do you know you can trust me?”

Mia sends him an impressed look because she didn’t think he had even that much common sense to put on the table. William might have had Samantha’s genes, but from what she’s heard, he’s a lot like Felicity when it comes to common sense. Meaning there’s not always a ton of it going around.

“I don’t,” is her own concession. “But you’re a Queen, even if you’re not calling yourself that. Blood’s always thicker than water for us.” 

She’s seen it time and time again. The sacrifices made in the name of family, even, or maybe _especially_ , when the one intended to be protected objected to the sacrifice. When push comes to shove, William’s nature will win out over any nurture or attitude problem. Like it does with her.

“Not for me. Not after everything,” he immediately argues.

“Oh yeah?” she challenges, not buying his denial for a second. “You went all the way to Lian Yu then came back to this hellhole because a rock that Felicity gave you _twenty_ years ago told you to. Fool someone else.”

Looking constipated, William sighs, “It’s not a rock. It’s a hōzen.”

“ _Whatever_ ,” she rolls her eyes because the point’s been made. He’s already committed serious time, money, and likelihood of death to this fool’s errand. Why stop now? “You in or what?”

“I don’t even know what you’re trying to do or what your plan is,” he replies although he doesn’t say no. 

His lack of outright rejection is enough for her to admit, “I think I found Mom.” Mia ignores his quick, “Oh so _now_ she’s Mom?” “My contact says she’s being held in the Glades.”

“ _Held?_ ” he repeats in horror.

His face goes ghost-white again, and she says that as someone who’s been living underground in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe this was a terrible idea after all. Should have listened to Connor.

Speaking of, William swallows hard and manages to ask, “What about your friend Connor? Why aren’t you asking him? Or did he say _no?_ ”

Mia shakes her head impatiently, overlooking the jab at Connor’s loyalty. Guy can defend himself in person later. “Connor grew up here. It would take Archer two seconds to pick up his face and DNA. You and me? We didn’t show up until after the walls went up. So unless you need to tell me something about any terrorist watch lists you might be on, we can sneak in. Just two bored, rich siblings checking out the famous walled city. Plus, you already have the clothes.”

“What about _your_ clothes?” Amusingly, when she raises an eyebrow, he flushes and starts backpedaling, “Not that there’s anything wrong with how you dress, but if you’re looking to blend in with better— I mean, higher— I mean, different—”

“I know what you meant. Don't worry. I clean up just fine.” Her other eyebrow rises to meet the other as if to say, _Have you seen my gene pool?_ “So. You in?”

After a moment’s pause, William meets her eyes, something like an actual backbone forming. “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s find Felicity.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> An excerpt from when they find Oliver and Felicity, alive and together:
> 
> “Your daughter tranq’ed me!”  
> “Did you deserve it?”  
> “I bet he deserved it.”


End file.
